In a copying machine, in particular large one, as a sort of office equipment being opened/closed member, an opening/closing device of a heavy opening/closing member weighing some 20-30 kg, in particular an original cover (mostly equipped with automatic original feeder) is provided; among such opening/closing devices of opening/closing members, an automatic opening/closing device of original cover is desirable, wherein the device enables an original cover to automatically open and close, for improving its operability in response to the weight of original cover and for facilitating operations by an operator in wheelchair, which is not necessarily the case of a heavy original cover. Among automatic opening/closing devices of original covers as above described, the ones disclosed in JP Laid-Open Patent Publications No. 2009-122141 and 2009-036994 are publicly known.
An automatic opening/closing device of original cover disclosed in JP Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-122141 mentioned above comprises a driving part including a drive motor being a power source, wherein the driving part is mounted on the main body side, and an power output generated by the driving part is transmitted to a connecting shaft also functioning as a hinge pin of a supporting member for supporting the original cover with regard to a mounting member, so that the original cover is opened and closed via the supporting member which rotates.
The automatic opening/closing device of original cover assembled in this manner is not desirable in terms of appearance since the driving part still protrudes on the main body side when the original cover is opened, and the automatic opening/closing device further necessitates design changes on a main body. Therefore, it is not so widespread. In recent years, specialization is advanced for copying machine, and separate specialized manufacturers produce main body, original cover with automatic original feeder and opening/closing device of original cover for opening/closing original cover with regard to main body respectively; first, a manufacturer of original cover mounts opening/closing devices of original cover on the original covers, and then the one for copying machine purchases original covers with opening/closing devices and assembles them to main bodies.
Therefore, an automatic opening/closing device of original cover is developed, wherein a driving part mechanically independent from a main body is mounted on a mounting member of a hinge part, as disclosed in JP Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-036994. The automatic opening/closing device of this sort has an advantage in that it does not impose design changes on the main body in installing the driving part. However, even this opening/closing device has not resolved the problem of undesirable appearance yet, since the driving part remains exposed on the main body when the original cover is opened.
Moreover, there is also problem in that maintenance requires additional steps and is thus complicated, since the driving part together with the hinge part should be removed from the main body, when the original cover needs to be removed from the main body for repair and inspection.